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Academic Commons Search Resultsen-usD. R. Congo: Explaining Peace Building Failures, 2003-2006http://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:173072
Autesserre, Severinehttp://dx.doi.org/10.7916/D85D8PX4Wed, 16 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000As a corrective to the emphasis on national and international reconciliation during peace building processes, I develop here a conceptual analysis of the dynamics of violence during the transition from war to peace and democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2003 and 2006. I locate the sources, at the local, national, and regional levels, of continued local violence during this transition. Through an analysis of the situation in the provinces of North Kivu and North Katanga, I illustrate how local dynamics interacted with the national and regional dimensions of the conflict. I demonstrate that, after a national and regional settlement was reached, some local conflicts over land and political power increasingly became self-sustaining, autonomous, and disconnected from the national and regional tracks. Thus, peace building action was required not only at the national and regional levels but also locally.Peace studies, Political sciencesa435Political Science (Barnard College)ArticlesConstruire la paix : conceptions collectives de son établissement, de son maintien et de sa consolidationhttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:145125
Autesserre, Severinehttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:12737Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000Le présent état de littérature se propose dès lors d’explorer conjointement les apports des littératures anthropologique et constructiviste, les débats qui les traversent, leurs complémentarités et leurs conflits, et de mettre en lumière leurs limites. Dans un premier temps, l’analyse abordera les approches « par le haut », structurées autour de deux thèmes principaux : la culture diplomatique et les styles de négociation nationaux, d’une part ; le paradigme de la paix libérale, d’autre part. Après avoir mis en évidence les apories de ces approches, l’on explorera deux controverses clés des approches « par le bas » dans les écrits constructivistes : l’existence (ou non) de divergences entre les répertoires culturels des intervenants et ceux des populations locales, d’abord, l’enjeu des cadres professionnels et organisationnels des entrepreneurs de paix, ensuite. En conclusion, plusieurs pistes de recherche seront suggérées.International relations, Peace studiessa435Political Science (Barnard College)ArticlesHobbes y el Congo: marcos, violencia local e intervención internacionalhttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:145131
Autesserre, Severinehttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:12739Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000¿Por qué los constructores internacionales de la paz no toman en consideración las causas locales de los procesos de paz que fallan? A través del presente artículo demuestro cómo las agendas locales jugaron entonces un rol decisivo en fomentar la violencia a nivel local, regional y nacional. Sin embargo, la existencia de un marco de construcción de la paz posbélica configuraba la visión internacional de la violencia y de la intervención de tal manera que la resolución del conflicto local era considerada como irrelevante e ilegitima. Este marco incluyó enseguida cuatro elementos fundamentales: los actores internacionales etiquetaron la situación en Congo de "postconflicto"; estos mismos actores creyeron que la violencia constituía un componente innato en la sociedad congolesa y, por lo tanto, aceptable incluso en tiempos de paz; conceptualizaron la intervención internacional como un asunto exclusivo de la esferas nacional e internacional; y consideraron la celebración de elecciones, en lugar de la resolución del conflicto local, como una herramienta viable, apropiada y efectiva para la construcción del estado y de la paz. Este marco, al autorizar y justificar prácticas y políticas específicas mientras impedía otras, en particular la resolución de conflictos locales, acabó condenando en última instancia los esfuerzos para la construcción de la paz. Para concluir, sostengo que el análisis de los marcos discursivos es un enfoque fructífero para intentar resolver los puzles de los fracasos internacionales en la construcción de la paz que se dan, también, más allá de las fronteras del Congo.International relations, Peace studiessa435Political Science (Barnard College)ArticlesPenser les Conflits Locaux: L'Échec de l'Intervention Internationale au Congohttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:145134
Autesserre, Severinehttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:12740Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000This chapter takes stock of the international intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to explain why it failed to end violence in the eastern provinces. Based on field observations in the Congo, document analysis and over 330 interviews, it demonstrates that massive violence continued between 2003 and 2008 in part because of the presence of local conflict. The international actors left these local tensions to fester because they perceived them as a consequence of broader problems and as a humanitarian issue. International actors thus focused on national and regional reconciliation, especially through the organization of "free and fair elections," and they passed onto each other the responsibility of working on violence at the local level. They paid attention to local issues only in case of shocking events or when they realized that micro and macro tensions were linked. As a result, they neglected many critical local conflicts, which regularly erupted into major crises.International relations, Peace studiessa435Political Science (Barnard College)ArticlesConstructing Peace: Collective Understandings of Peace, Peacemaking, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuildinghttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:145128
Autesserre, Severinehttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:12738Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000This review examines both the anthropological and international relations literature on collective understandings and peace interventions to identify their contributions, elucidate the current debates, emphasize the literatures' complementary and conflicting aspects, and shed light on their respective shortcomings. I first look at the top-down research, which focuses on two main topics: national negotiation styles and diplomatic culture, and the liberal peace paradigm. After highlighting the deficiencies of this top-down approach, I move to two central debates in the bottom-up research on peace interventions: the divergence between cultures of interveners and those of local populations, and the significance of the interveners' organizational and professional frames. To conclude, I emphasize areas that remain underresearched.International relations, Peace studiessa435Political Science (Barnard College)ArticlesLocal Violence, National Peace? Postwar "Settlement" in the Eastern D.R. Congo (2003-2006)http://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:145072
Autesserre, Severinehttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:12722Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000This article develops a conceptual analysis of the dynamics of violence during the transition from war to peace and democracy in the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2003 and 2006. I locate the sources, at the local, national, and regional levels, of continued local violence during this transition. Through an analysis of the situation in the Kivus, I illustrate how local dynamics interacted with the national and regional dimensions of the conflict. I demonstrate that, after a national and regional settlement was reached, some local conflicts over land and political power increasingly became self-sustaining and autonomous from the national and regional tracks.Political science, Peace studies, International relationssa435Political Science (Barnard College)ArticlesHobbes and the Congo: Frames, Local Violence, and International Interventionhttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:138938
Autesserre, Severinehttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:11207Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000Why do international peacebuilders fail to address the local causes of peace process failures? The existing explanations of peacebuilding failures, which focus on constraints and vested interests, do not explain the international neglect of local conflict. In this article, I show how discursive frames shape international intervention and preclude international action on local violence. Drawing on more than 330 interviews, multi-sited ethnography, and document analysis, I develop a case study of the Democratic Republic of Congo's transition from war to peace and democracy (2003-2006). I demonstrate that local agendas played a decisive role in sustaining local, national, and regional violence. However, a postconflict peacebuilding frame shaped the international understanding of violence and intervention in such a way that local conflict resolution appeared irrelevant and illegitimate. This frame included four key elements: international actors labeled the Congo a "postconflict" situation; they believed that violence there was innate and therefore acceptable even in peacetime; they conceptualized international intervention as exclusively concerned with the national and international realms; and they saw holding elections, as opposed to local conflict resolution, as a workable, appropriate, and effective tool for state- and peacebuilding. This frame authorized and justified specific practices and policies while precluding others, notably local conflict resolution, ultimately dooming the peacebuilding efforts. In conclusion, I contend that analyzing discursive frames is a fruitful approach to the puzzle of international peacebuilding failures beyond the Congo.Peace studies, Political sciencesa435Political Science (Barnard College)ArticlesPeacetime Violence: Post-Conflict Violence and Peacebuilding Strategieshttp://academiccommons.columbia.edu/catalog/ac:138941
Autesserre, Severinehttp://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:11208Wed, 21 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000This synthesis provides an overview of academic findings on the sources of violence in post-war environments and on the strategies to address them. It distinguishes between unaddressed pre-war tensions, war-induced cleavages, and peace-generated conflicts. It shows that, according to the best research, current peacebuilding strategies have two major weaknesses. First, they neglect the micro-level dynamics of violence. Second, they do not devote sufficient attention and resources to state reconstruction (which is distinct from merely holding elections). These weaknesses explain why peacebuilding efforts often fail to end violence even when they produce other positive outcomes.Peace studiessa435Political Science (Barnard College)Articles